He’s known as the nice guy of rock and roll.

But newly released photos show a different side of family man Jon Bon Jovi – the wannabe star trying to make it in the music industry.

The posed shots show the singer lying on a bed with four naked girls on top of him, in a provocative scene.

Bon Jovi

Before he was famous: Jon Bon Jovi the aspiring rock star poses with four semi-naked girls in a 1985 photo published in new book Sex, Drugs And Bon Jovi

They were taken by famed photographer Ross Marino in 1985 when Jon was just 22, busy promoting second album 7800°Fahrenheit.

It wasn’t until the release of Bon Jovi’s third album, Slippery When Wet that the band shot to superstardom.

The never-published pictures were kept locked away for more than 20 years by the band’s former tour manager, Rich Bozzett, who has included them in his new book charting his time with the band.

He told Mail Online he tracked them down years after they were taken at the request of Bon Jovi, who asked him to destroy them after remembering their existence following his rise to fame.

Aspiring star: The young Jon Bon Jovi
Happily married: Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea Hurley

Family man: Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea Hurley, right, have been married since his days as a young star, left

 

 

But Bozzett kept them along with other memorabilia from his seven years with the band.

He said he had great memories of travelling the world with the unknown band during their rise to fame – and particularly of Jon Bon Jovi.

‘He treated me very well, I felt he was a nice person, and very genuine.’

He said he remembers the photoshoot well – and that Bon Jovi enjoyed it.

‘Back at that time, you’re a young man, you’re going to enjoy something like that,’ he said.

But he said that the shoot was a set-up, with Bon Jovi already dating the woman who would become his wife, his teenage sweetheart, Dorothea Hurley, the mother of his four children.

‘We were trying to toughen up the image,’ he explained, saying the huge record sales of bands like Motley Crue inspired the idea.

Rock gods: Bon Jovi at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Castle Donington in 1987

Rock gods: Bon Jovi at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Castle Donington in 1987

 

bon jovi

Still going strong: The band in New York last year

In his book Bozzett, who now works on house renovations, also talked about the alleged drug use of  members of the band.

But the 52-year-old, who said at times he felt like the ‘sixth member’ of the band, said Bon Jovi were nothing like their more edgy contemporaries.

‘I’m thankful that I worked for him [Jon], he was basically squeaky clean.’

Bozzett was eventually dropped from the band and claims he was denied his share of profits by their then-manager.

But he said his book was not motivated by malice – he just felt the time was right to tell his story.

‘I would tell people stories and people would just be fascinated,’ he explained. ‘They couldn’t hear enough of it.’

Sex, Drugs And Bon Jovi is available for sale online.